Tablets

With the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and 10.5, Samsung continues to impress the technology world with its hardware and software prowess. The Tab S (8.4in and 10.5in), billed as the "world's greatest", these aren’t just grandiose words. No other tablet on the current market rivals its resolution in terms of razor sharp clarity, crispness and color reproduction all in an ultra-thin and lightweight design.

The Tab S offers a spectacular display with 16:9 screen aspect ratio which Samsung says make for a better experience when watching video. The Tab S uses the WQXGA Super Amoled technology which Samsung's mobile devices have become well known for, but this time have a super high resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, giving it a pixel density of about 360 pixels per inch (ppi) for the 8.4in (287 ppi for the 10.5in) versus the iPad’s 324ppi. This yields "next generation" screens which are capable of reproducing 97% of the Adobe RGB color coverage, whereas the retina displays on the iPads can only manage around 70%.

Samsung also cites the Adaptive Display technology as one of the key features of the Tab S, which allows the screen to adjust its saturation and sharpness based on the application and viewing environment. Results are a visually immersive user experience and HD content that looks better than real-life.

At 6.6mm (0.26in) for both models, the Tab S is not only thinner than the iPad mini 2, it is even thinner than the Samsung's own Galaxy S5 smartphone. As well, at 295g (0.65pounds), the Tab S is 40g lighter than the iPad mini 2, while still maintaining its premium, chic appeal.

The Galaxy Tab S is not only ultra-thin and lightweight, but also comes with fast and flawless performance due to Samsung’s own powerful Octa-core Exynos 5 chip along with a massive 3GB of RAM, and 1.9 and 1.3GHz quad-core processors. The tablets come with either 16GB or 32GB of storage along with a memory card slot to add up to an extra 128GB of storage if needed. One battery charge lasts around eight hours of mixed use, involving gameplay, internet browsing and video playback.

Both tablets have an 8-megapixel rear camera (with an LED flash) and 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera on the front.

The Tab S comes in "dazzling white" and "titanium bronze" and plastic dimpled back, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Its vibrant screen and sleek looks make it the perfect medium for entertainment content with a myriad of software features, including Paper Garden (Samsung's new magazine service which comes with free magazines like Vogue and GQ thanks to its partnership with Conde Nast); "Galaxy Gifts", 29 gifts for trial subscriptions to sites like the New York Times and the Wall Street; Milk Music, a free streaming music radio service; and SideSync, an app for easily syncing your Galaxy S5 onto the screen of your Tab S for file sharing (creating a seamless connection that allow users in the network to edit documents at the same time, in real time) and managing phone calls.

The latest addition to the Apple family debuted this month -- The new iPad (no “3” just "New").

Of all the improvements over the iPad 2, the biggest is the resolution. The new model’s retina display comes packed with four times as many pixels as the previous iPads. It’s the best display screen of any tablet ever.

But how does this really affect the user? Is it a noticeable difference worth upgrading for, or a minor step in iPad evolution?

The new iPad’s resolution is 2048 x 1536, which on a 9.7 inch screen means a pixel density of 264 points per inch. The processor was upgraded to the A5X in order to handle its 3.1 million pixels. This results in pictures that are not only clearer and brighter, but more accurate as well.

When compared to the iPad 2 it becomes clear how much color accuracy and image detail can be lost with lower resolutions. This also means that web browsing is better with less need to zoom in to read pages because fonts are cleaner.

The IPS screen also means you won’t miss any of the image quality improvements at odd angles. This makes sharing the latest viral video you’ve discovered that much easier. 1080p content is significantly improved from the iPad 2.

Video game graphics are kicked up a notch as well. When holding up the iPad 2 to the new iPad, all of these features are noticeable.

Whether it’s worth the upgrade depends on how valuable resolution and color are to your iPad use. Users who browse video and photo content and are happy with the iPad 2’s resolution may find it hard to justify upgrading. Those who edit or closely analyze such media would probably find it a smart move (especially considering the new iLife, Apple’s photo and video editing software, which they recently upgraded to harness the graphics power of the new iPad).

As for other differences between the new iPad and the iPad 2... It’s 9.4mm thick (.6mm thicker than the iPad 2) and weighs 1.4 pounds (.11 pounds more than the 2), and now has a 5-megapixel rear facing camera.

The new camera has the same five-element, f/2.4 lens and stabilization processing power found in the iPhone 4S camera. The download and upload speeds with 4G/LTE are significantly improved.